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Chapter Three: The Furthest Mosque
With the capture of east Jerusalem all of the elements
seemed to be in place for the realization of the Jewish
national dream, the rebuilding of the Second Temple, for which
virtually every practicing Jew had been praying, "that in our
days may the Temple be rebuilt", for the past 1900
years.
Figure 8: The
western wall of the sanctuary
Only according to
the Halachah, the Jewish code of law and doctrine, the
most critical requirement for rebuilding the Temple, the coming of the
Messiah, had yet to be fulfilled. But the requirements of Judaic
Law had never deterred the Secular Zionists before. Especially when it involved
prohibiting something they desired, like a
fantastic symbol of Jewish nationalism right
in the middle of Jerusalem, to replace the glaring reminder of
the Muslims still in their midst. A Second Temple would do
very well indeed, just as it had before its destruction, as an
object of worship for the Jews.
A model of the temple already existed,
built on the grounds of the holy Land Hotel in West Jerusalem
before the Six Days' War. The only obstructions to the
realization of the Zionists architectural dreams:
-
international
recognition of the Muslim right to, and ownership of the
Haram ash-Sharif,
-
the existence of Al -
Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock,
-
and the vigilance of
600 million Muslims who call this site the third holiest in
islam.
Seeking to establish the principle of the Noble Sanctuary as a place
of Jewish worship, extremist groups began performing Jewish prayer services
in the area of the Sanctuary, despite the prohibition by
the chief Rabbinate of Jews of even setting foot in
it for fear of violating its sanctity according to Judaic
law.
Fearing retribution from the Muslim World the
Israeli attorney General banned such acts in the Spring of 1969.
Four months later the entire south wing of the Al - Aqsa
Mosque was destroyed by fire. Fire fighters from Jerusalem and
the West Bank answered
the alarm, but not soon enough to prevent damage
that would take more than twenty years of concerted effort to
repair.
When the fire
was finally extinguished, the Qibla wall, mihrab and dome were
destroyed and with them the mimbar commissioned by Nuradeen
over 700 years earlier; the mimbar installed by Salahudeen
when the Crusaders were driven out in the twelfth
century.
An Australian visitor at a coastal
kibbutz was arrested that night for setting blaze. Reaction
from the Muslim countries was strong and swift. A protest
strike and demonstration was called in Jerusalem. Others
followed throughout the Muslim world
An emergency
meeting of the UN Security Council was called, and Israel's
control of Jerusalem put into question. The Israel's position
about rebuilding the Temple on public record:
"according to
the Halachah, the Temple will be rebuilt when the Messiah
appears. It is therefore inconceivable that we ourselves
should make any plans for rebuilding the
Temple"
Despite his
disarmingly rational courtroom demeanor, and evidence that he
may have worked with others, an Israeli court ruled that the
Australian could not be held responsible for his actions due
to mental imbalance. After treatment in Israel he returned to
Australia.
Two decades later, work on the
restoration of the damage caused by this fire continues.
Supported by Muslims throughout the world, and winning international awards for
excellence, the restoration has nonetheless disrupted worship in Al
- Aqsa since 1969, with no immediate
end in sight.
Attempts to
establish Jewish prayer services within the Sanctuary
continued. In 1976 Israeli central Courts passed a law
permitting them. Two weeks of demonstrations by Muslim Law
students and the subsequent resignation of members of the
municipal courts in the West Bank resulted in their repeal.
Other attempts to establish these services were renewed two
years later.
In september of
1979, fifteen extremist Jews blocked the way to one of the
Sanctuary's gates on the day of the Friday congregational
prayer, pointing a gun at one of the Muslim security
guards.
In may of 1981
the adhan was prohibited from the minaret overlooking the
West Wall because of Jewish celebrations. The following month
the Hakam of the Wailing Wall petitioned the Minister of
Religious affairs in Jerusalem for permission to pray in Al -
Aqsa. Harassment and acts of sabotage escalated in 1981. In
August an Israeli helicopter hovered at low attitude over
Masjid Al - Asqa preventing worshippers inside from hearing
the khutba. That same month a tunnel dug by workers from the
Ministry of Religious affairs was uncovered in the sanctuary
leading to the Western Wall. The government immediately
ordered the tunnel sealed because of the political sensitivity
of the issue.
Figure 9: Approach to the Dome of the Rock
from the West
Despite warnings by Israeli archeologists against
digging beneath the Sanctuary, and UN resolutions against
them, excavations continued, leading to dangerous cracks to
buildings adjoining the Western Wall. Engineers and
archeologists were prohibited by Israeli authorities from
revealing anything about their digs beneath Al -
Aqsa.
In
September Arab students entering one of these tunnels to seal
it off were injured in an encounter with a group of Israelis.
A general strike was called by the Supreme Muslim Council to
protest the excavations. Muslims were prevented by Israeli
Security Forces from entering Jerusalem the following Friday
for fear of large demonstrations.
The
following spring armed Israeli religious students clashed with
Muslim security guards. This time the Minister of Defence was
petitioned for permission to perform Jewish services at Al -
Aqsa. Excavations beneath Al - Aqsa continued with Israeli
archeologists claiming the discovery of Jewish ruins under the
Mosque. In April of 1982 a parcel with a fake bomb and
threats signed by Jewish extremists was discovered at one of
the gates leading to the Sanctuary. Two days later Muslims
mobilized a large demonstration in Al - Aqsa to protest
attacks on Holy places.
The following day an ex - Israeli army
regular opened fire with his military assault rifle, killing
two Muslims and filling the interior and exterior of the Dome
of the Rock with bullet holes. The West Bank and Gaza rioted
in protest. Less than a month later shots were fired into the
Sanctuary by a sniper on the rooftop on the Madrassa
Amriyya, and a group of Israelis tried to enter the Sanctuary
with leaflets inciting Jews to take over the mosque.
In nearby Khalil, armed members of Kryat Arba enetered the Ibrahimi Mosque
and performed prayer with the support of the Military.
In
June the Awqaf received a letter from Europe warning that this
fund was trying to buy up Waqf property to the
Sanctuary.
In
March Muslim security guards discovered explosives in the
entrance to the Sanctuary on the day of the Friday prayer,
four armed Israelis were discovered attempting to enter the
sanctuary through Solomon's Stables, and arms and plans for
rebuilding the temple were found in the house of an extremist
group leader.
The
same month a group of Jewish fanatics armed with Uzi's and M -
16's and carrying a cache of explosives were caught attempting
to enter the Sanctuary. Radio Israel reported that they were
prepared for a prolonged siege. Six months later they were
acquitted in Israeli courts.
In
January of 1984 a group of Jewish terrorists carrying ladders
and explosives were stopped in the sanctuary by Muslim
security guards in the middle of the night. Four days later
time bombs were discovered by explosive experts.
By
the Spring of '84 armed Israeli guards were patrolling the
Sanctuary twenty - four hours a day, their presence and
behaviour inimical to the sanctity of the Mosque. The Supreme
Muslim Council petitioned the Israeli Prime Minister
repeatedly to withdraw the soldiers but to no effect. With no
response forthcoming from the Israelis, the Supreme Muslim
Council petitioned the UN in May of 1984 to pressure Israel to
withdraw its troops from Al- Aqsa.
Despite continued demands for their withdrawal, Israeli
soldiers continue to patrol the Sanctuary on the pretense of
protecting it from attack. In reality it is the Muslim - run
Aqsa Security force - underpaid, understaffed, and unarmed -
whose vigilance has provided the only protection for the Noble
Sanctuary in virtually all the acts of terrorism against
it.
Figure 10: Israeli soldiers on Patrol in
the Noble Sanctuary
The UN Security council has passed more
than 20 resolutions condemning Israel's annexation of Old
Jerusalem and its military occupation of the West Bank.
Repeated violations of human rights led directly to the
Intifada, the Palestinian Uprising, in the winter of 1987.
Reecognizing the Intifada's roots in the revival of Islam, the
Israelis increased their attacks
on places of worship throughout Palestine. On June 15th,
1988 Israeli troops stormed Al - Aqsa Mosque,
firing tear gas into groups of worshippers. A month
later the discovery of new excavations adjacent to the
Sanctuary led to more civil disorder.
Less than one year later soldiers were forced from the precints
of the Noble Sanctuary by more than 20'000 Muslims who
gathered in Al - Aqsa for the first Friday prayer in Ramadan.
Roadblocks were set up around Jerusalem the following week and
Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza were barred from the
Mosque.
In the meantime, the aspiration to rebuild
a Jewish Temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock has become
more and more open, despite the Judaic injunctions against it.
In July of 1984 it was reported in the International
Herald Tribune
that the
"yearning to remove the mosques and
build a Jewish Temple there has begun to spread from a few
religious fanatics into more established rightist political
groups."
A
recent article on rebuilding the Temple appearing in one of
Israel's major color supplements, The Nation,
explores such obtuse questions as the location of toilets,
parking spaces, and gift shops - and whether or not to
air-condition while pondering the more serious implications of
the multi - billion dollar projected annual income generated
by their anticipated monopoly on the Jewish pilgrim
trade.
A
visit to the Institute of the Temple overlooking the Wailing
Wall, and the sanctuary itself, reveals just how busy some
have been in making preparationns for what they feel may be a
forthcoming event. A scale model of the Second temple is on
display, together with diagrams of various other aspects of
the Temple bsed on descriptions of their original counterparts
recorded in the Misha, and a miniature version of the Arc of
the Convenant, thought to be buried somewhwer under Al - Aqsa.
Major expenditures in time and money have already been made to
reproduce what are thought to be exact replicas of the myriad
utensils necessary for the performance of the complex Jewish
rituals to take place within the Temple.
A recent debate in Jerusalem between
Muslim, Jews and Christians televised in Britain included the
serious suggestion by an Israeli participant that the Dome of
the Rock could be relocated, as the Temples of Ramses the
Second were in Aswan Dam project, to make
way for the new Jewish temple. If the Israeli's
enthusiasm for moving Arabs out of their houses is
anything to go by, not to mention their history of
blowing them up, then the Muslims had better keep an eye
on Al - Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock.
Figure 11: Israeli
Condos
Harassment and acts of terrorism against Muslims living
adjacent to the Sanctuary, while officially not condoned, are
part of an ongoing policy to drive them from this area. The
eventual bulldozing and replacement of their houses with
Jewish condominium fortress complexes can only be a harbinger
of things to come.
Figure 12: Israeli construction overlooking
Al - Aqsa Mosque
The
Israelis seem busy preparing for a war while creating the
desperation, injustice and despair necessary to provoke one.
Where can it possibly lead?
To
the West Bank and Gaza. To the Intifada and a people who have
had enough of the insatiable greed and thoughtlessness of an
unconscionable occupation. And to Al - Aqsa, to the furthest
mosque - not to the idol that the Temple became where prophets
were slaughtered and pure religion of Abraham was abandoned -
but to the site from where the Prophet Muhammad, peace and
blessings be upon him, made his journey through the heavens to
the Lord.
Regarding his ascent the Prophet, peace annd blessings
be upon him, related in the last section of the hadith
reported by Thabit al bunani, on the authority of
Anas:
".....I found Abraham leaning his back against the
frequented house which is entered daily by seventy thousand
angels who do not return to it.
I
was then taken up to the lote - tree of the furthest boundary
whose leaves are like elephant ears and whose fruits are like
earthen vessels. When what God commands over shadows it, it
changes, and none of God's creatures can describe it because
of its beauty. God revealed to me what He revealed and made
obligatory fifty prayers every day and night.
I
then came down to Moses who asked what my Lord had made
obligatory for my people. When I told him he had prescribed
fifty prayers every day and night he said,
'Go back to your Lord and ask Him to lighten them,
for your people are not capable of that. I have tested Bani
Israel and have experience.'
I
went back to my lord and said "O my Lord, make things lighter
for my people", so he relieved me of five. when I returned to
Moses and told him he had relieved me of five he
said,
"your people are not capable of that, so go back to your
Lord and ask Him to make things still lighter." I then kept
going back and forth between my Lord and Moses till he
said,
"Muhammad, there are five prayers every day and night.
Each will count as ten making fifty times of prayer. He who
intends to do a good action recorded for him. If he does do
it, it will be recorded for him ten times. He who intends to
do a wrong action but does not do it, will have nothing
recorded against him. If he does do it, only one wrong action
will be recorded against him. I then came down. When I came to
Moses and told him he said, "Go back to your Lord and ask Him
to make things lighter."
God's messenger said that he replied "I have gone
back to my Lord until I am ashamed before him"
Muslim transmitted it.
Figure 13: Entrance to The Dome of the
Rock
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